train wreck

I used to ride Amtrak a lot when I was younger, and apparently had the luck to be a passenger on one train that was involved in an accident, and my friend's mother was involved in this one:

She was on the commuter train. She wasn't seriously injured, but she definitely milked that one for all it was worth.

The one I was in was less serious - smashed into a pickup truck that had run the crossing in southern Utah. Miraculously, I think the driver survived, but we were a day late getting into Chicago.

Seems to me that a iPhone app, with a built-in track map and GPS, could scream bloody murder, and maybe apply brakes, when a train is going too fast, and could be coded in a month by a few good programmers. So why does it take years to implement PTC?

My friend's iPhone gives no end of grief every other time it automatically upgrades. You may think you have a clue regarding critical systems, but you don't.

I agree completely. Probably all that's required in most cases is a simple alert to the engineer. It could even be based on time or distance-traveled.

Nothing is worse than when your ladyfriend sends you a text message saying "hey, want to get together tonight? ; )" and then your phone freezes up for an hour to do a bunch of software updates.

Or a doppler RADAR on the front like the one on the doors of supermarkets.

Jesus, do iPhones all do that? If Andriod did that I wouldn't even have a smart phone.

Maybe it could even be an app available to the public. I bet if everyone's phone started screaming slow down, someone would get the point across to the engineer.

My GPS tells what the road speed limit is. Usually updates just as I pass the sign. That is all hand coded into the map metadata.

GPS will give location and velocity, likely good enough for a train warning. It doesn't seem that difficult to me. It certainly shouldn't take years to do.

They have CSS (Cab Signaling System) And ATC/ATS (Autamated Train Control, Automated Train Stop) It's rrequired for speed > 79mph.

The kid basically fell asleep.

Cheers

What information does such an app need that an iPhone doesn't already have?

The GPS apps are amazing. On cross country plane flights the position, altitude and ground speed was shown at any point along the way. This level of detail continued even as the plane taxied into its boarding slot, with velocity finally zeroing as the brakes were set for the last time.

NTSB, released the Docket today. Availble here

Cheers

Or whacked his head on the console ducking the rock. Lots weirder things have happened.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

They say GPS but it's really GPS augmented inertial navigation...

Iphones are pretty reliable. An iPhone app in a few months is better than some monster system five years from now. You can always toss the phones when the hundred-megabuck thing is finally working.

The BART system had a state-of-the art redundant digital control system on each train. All clocked by one XO. Guess what happened.

Strange. Train drivers die in crashes too.

Lol!